Le roi des imposteurs

That this movie, made in 1961, wasn't the inspiration for Frank Abagnale (Catch me if you can), the bit Spielberg/DeCaprio/Hanks hit currently in theaters. When I saw the promos for CMIYC I thought, "Hey! This is a remake of an old Tony Curtis film!"

The IMDB search shows that The Great Impostor was made in 1961; Frank Abagnales adventures as an imposter started in '62 or '63. Wonder if he saw the film?

I can't remember if I loved The Great Impostor or not but I'm guessing I did; the plot is sooooooooo similar to Catch Me If You Can and I liked that film quite a lot!

Tony Curtis may not have been the greatest of actors (though he did give some great performances), but he was very charismatic and immensely likeable and improved hugely with each film, it was very difficult to dislike him even early in his career. Reading the subject matter gave the impression that 'The Great Imposter' would be interesting and entertaining. There is also a good deal of talent in the cast.

Luckily, 'The Great Imposter' turned out to be exactly that, exactly what it seemed it would be on paper. It was interesting and it was very entertaining, the latter being especially strong, those two being its main objectives and they were achieved. Won't say it was a masterpiece or classic cinema because it wasn't, not everything works, but like Curtis one cannot be too hard on 'The Great Imposter' with so much working in its favour. It knows what it wants to be, who to aim it at and shows a lot of effort without trying to bite more than it can chew or play it too safe.

Would have liked DeMura's motivations to have gone into depth more or properly explored/explained, this aspect felt underdeveloped.

Also didn't buy his reform, which felt rushed and too pat to me, but that's personal opinion.

On the other hand, 'The Great Imposter' looks attractive, especially in the photography, and is assuredly directed. The music is never intrusive, low-key, obvious or repetitive, it fits well and not hard at all to remember.

While the facts and subject are adapted loosely and the tone significantly more light-hearted compared to the biography, of which it is a loose adaptation of, the light-hearted wit is infectious, it doesn't get too camp or silly and those unfamiliar with the man and story before seeing the film will find themselves wanting to learn more. The story is crisply paced and while odd in places (in an appealing way) it doesn't get too hard to follow. The surgery scene is priceless and avoids the trap of falling into distaste, do agree though it is not a subject to be laughed or poked fun at usually.

Did worry as to whether Curtis would be able to handle multiple roles and whether he would pull it off, but didn't need to be. He does splendidly here, we have as much fun as he clearly did, and one can really see how much he grew as an actor from when he first started a decade or so before. Raymond Massey, Edmund O'Brien and Karl Malden are particularly note-worthy in support.

All in all, lots of fun. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Tony Curtis portrays "Ferdinand Waldo Demara Jr.," who faked being a doctor, warden, monk and teacher. When I saw this at the theater 45 years ago, I thought it was fascinating. Much older and seeing it on tape about 10 years ago, it wasn't as interesting as I had remembered. I guess when you're a kid, everything on the big screen is impressive.

Humor helped in this film, giving it some life here and there as it's a bit slow-moving but still entertaining. I've usually found Curtis entertaining to watch, a man who played a lot of interesting characters. I still think he is/was an underrated actor, too.

It was nice seeing the main character, although being a fake, still asking for God's help in certain situations, inside knowing he was not doing the right thing. Those parts would be edited out if the film was re-made today. I agree, too, with a fellow reviewer that faking being a surgeon is not something to be laughed at, especially if he was doing his operating on you or me!

I genuinely dislike these smooth-talking narcissistic psychopaths. They're like the guy who pushes in front of you in a long line and offers a charming but false explanation. Great for him but everybody else is deprived of the place in line that they've earned. Very amusing to see DeMara in all these high-status positions -- doctor, researcher from Yale, prison warden, monk. Suppose he'd killed someone on the Canadian destroyer? It doesn't help that he looks heavenward and mutters, "God, please don't let me kill anybody." He should have thought of that before. And his settling down with a straightforward love of his life who reforms him is unbelievable.

That gets the bad stuff out of the way. Tony Curtis is near his best, jaunty when it's called for, sweaty and nervous when necessary. His meeting with Mickey Kellin in the dark prison cell is pretty spooky. We can believe that Curtis is scared. We can also believe that Kellin is anxious to cooperate in some scheme that saves both his neck and his face.

The scene in which Curtis, as a Canadian doctor must remove the abcessed tooth of Captain Edmund O'Brien could not be improved upon. I can't watch that scene without busting up. O'Brien frozen in this awkward position, an agonized expression on his face, like an exhibit in Madam Toussaud's Wax Works.

I'm glad he finally got caught before he caused too much damage. Speaking of the damage we don't see much of it here. It's all pretty lighthearted, which is one way of approaching exploitation. An example of what I mean by "damage." I would feel sorry for the Naval officer who falls in love with him and redeems him, if she existed. In real life, these stimulus-hungry anti-social personalities are easily bored. They tend to attract women, use them, and blow them off. I would expect DeMara to have left a lot of hurt women along his madcap trail.

My favorite Tony Curtis picture has always been The Great Imposter. He's supported in this true story of a man who wouldn't settle for the humdrum by a wonderful cast of Hollywood players.

This film is particularly personal to me because I knew a Ferdinand Waldo DeMara character in my life. This person was not a great impostor like Curtis plays in this film, but like DeMara was amazingly bright and was a quick study. Even though he didn't have a high school diploma just like Fred DeMara, like DeMara with study he could learn enough to do anything. Unfortunately in the span of his life on earth all he did was use his brain was to con the social service system. And like Karl Malden's priest confidante to Tony Curtis, I told him he could do so much more with his life. Tony Curtis's performance is spot-on for me.

I have to say that my favorite moment in the movie is when DeMara is finally unmasked and we see a series of reaction shots of the various people he's fooled. Most of the facial expressions are of shock, but Raymond Massey who plays the Abbott of a Trappist Monastery reads the newspaper and has a grin that is priceless.

Recently Leonardo DiCaprio did a similar film and Catch Me If You Can did not take as lighthearted an approach as The Great Imposter. But the two should be viewed side by side for comparison. Leo's Frank Abegnale is also spot-on, but I think I like Tony Curtis's performance a tad better.

Maybe because this film is so personal others might not see it as I do, but I give it the best rating around.